Sunday, March 24, 2013

PROBLEMS WITH THE HELIOSHEATH

In one of his science-fiction novels, Asimov wrote that the crew of a spaceship that for the first time reached the heliosheath (extreme region of Heliopause, where solar wind is slowed, compressed and becomes turbulent by its interaction with the interstellar space: IS), lost consciousness for hours, while simultaneously the ship suffered mechanical and electrical disturbances. So, Asimov condensed, the consequences of the collision of the ship against a kind of wall, which we now know has a teardrop shape and is composed of millions of bubbles, which set a limit between the Heliopause and the interstellar magnetic field. The Heliosheath is the limit of solar influence, where solar wind opposes the interstellar medium or stellar wind from other stars, as evidenced by a loss of solar wind pressure, caused by inherent dispersion, where solar and pressures of IS, become equivalent.

Regarding to IS, NASA's IBEX has shown within it: ordinary matter, neutral atoms (H, He, O, Neon), ionized atoms, molecules, dust and cosmic radiation (energy), wrapped in a magnetic field. The junction between Heliopause and IS, according to the IBEX is a region that slows and reduces hazardous ion entry into our solar system, phenomenon that causes directional ionic changes inducing magnetic chaos. It is stated that the Voyager 1, has not yet entered to IS, for failure to detect persistent changes in the magnetic field direction of IS. Most scientists agree, however, that the ship has already reached the Heliopause (million km long), demonstrated by discrete energy oscillations recorded in the Voyager 1, induced by myriads of ions from nearby IS. There is no guarantee that a future manned spacecraft, be deeply affected when arriving in the Heliosheath.